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"Libby?" I looked up and saw Lorcan standing nearby "The queen would like to talk to you" His arirl as dressed in black She had black-ri Her hair was as shiny and dark as a raven&039;s wing, except for two cherry-red stripes on either side of her face "This is Tamara She&039;ll watch the boys"

"She will?" I asked

Her eyebroent up, giving ereat babysitter," said Ralph

"Yeah," said Tamara "I do all my Satanic rituals after the kids are asleep"

"What?"

Lorcan laughed "She&039;s teasing, Libby"

"Thanks for watching the boys, Tamara," said Ralph in a choked voice Suspicious, I looked at Ralph Yep He was laughing, too He got up and helped me to my feet I looked over ht aze and waved It didn&039;t make me feel any better I felt very protective of Stephen and Michael We all traipsed over to the other side of the room Mom and Dad squeezed in next to Lorcan and Eva on a yellow couch Ralph and I took a blue, puffy chair Once again, I sat down and he leaned on the ar behind Damian, was Stan He was such a chicken-shit I saw Zerina, too, and a few others I didn&039;t recognize This was quite the get-together Everyone quieted and looked at Patsy, who sat on the center couch with her husband, Gabriel She opened her mouth

"I&039;m so pleased to meet all of you," burst out Mo, dear?"

"Fine," said Patsy She looked flulad to hear it And just think, if hter hadn&039;t saved your life, you wouldn&039;t be sitting here now" Moht&039;ve happened to your poor babies!"

Did Mo tucked into war Mom was probably the only human around ouldn&039;t be instantly cowed by vaons

"Libby kicked ass," said Patsy She glanced at h-five her?"

"Maybe later," said Moh, which earned hi close to dawn, so let&039;s just get down to brass tacks Libby killed Lia I ain&039;t too sorry about it I&039;ve wanted to blow that bitch up since the day I ed froeek powers to ferret some info I&039;m the new chief of the bloodsuckers and the wolfies So, even if killing an Ancient once meant the end of a Family, it doesn&039;t anymore"

"And if someone kills you?" asked Dad

"We&039;ll just make sure that doesn&039;t happen" Patsy rubbed her belly "So, wanna tell lamoured?"

"Why do you need to know?" asked ave her an are-you-serious look, and Moht-I-am look

"Fine Do us all a favor and ask your invisible A-Team to come out and play nice"

"Nope They&039;re our insurance," said Dad pleasantly "You keep us safe, and you stay safe"

His pronouncement had the same effect as if he&039;d said, "We think you eat babies"

"Wait just a da decent folks," said Patsy Her voice vibrated with indignation

"Um, hello? Didn&039;t you tell me I couldn&039;t leave Broken Heart?" I asked "And then you threw race to look unco rooonfire"

"No," said Mom "We don&039;t need to rehash the past Queen Patricia, we do understand the nature of your citizens We know that you need secrecy to survive We have no intention of telling anyone else about Broken Heart"

"You&039;ll forgive us if we seeone toe-to-toe with Michael Shermer," Mo "

"Here&039;s the thing," said Patsy "I don&039;t like the idea of your guys running aroundas Synd is still alive So call theether"

Mom and Dad looked at each other, then atclose to dawn Let&039;s all get so"

"It would be better to strike at Synd now," said Ash "He&039;s vulnerable With a day&039;s rest, he&039;ll be at full strength" She pointed at me "She&039;s not a va around me protectively "She&039;s exhausted, and I&039;ll be daain"

The independent woh-handed territorial behavior But the girly-girl in led closer to Ralph Everyone looked at us Patsy&039;s gaze stayed on us the longest Finally she said, "Is there so we should know?"

"Yes," said Ralph He cupped the back of my neck and said, "I claim you, Liberty Monroe"

I felt heat spiderweb up my neck I looked up at Ralph What had he just done? Well, other than tell everyone here that ere a couple

"Liberty," said Mom "Have you mated with him?"

"Iuhthat is" I sed the knot infuriously "Yeah Well, sorta"

"You two did the nasty?" demanded Ash